Sound reproducing device using endless recording tapes



G. P. SMITH May 5, 1953 SOUND REPRODUCING DEVICE USING ENDLESS RECORDINGTAPES 2 Sl-IEETSSHEET 1 Filed Dec. 20, 1949 INVEN TOR. Y dv/a/p/QJ/Z/M y5, 1953 G. P. SMITH 2,637,560

sounn REPRODUCING DEVICE-USING ENDLESS RECORDING TAPES Filed Dec. 20,1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 "nun" Patented May 5, 1953 SOUND. REPRODUCINGDEVICEUSING ENDLESS RECORDHIG TAPES Graham PJSmith, Chicago, 111.,assigned to 'Powe'll Announcer Corporation,

ration .of Illinois Chicago; 111., aicorpo- ApplicationDeceniher20,1949, Serial N0.'I34,020

This invention relates to certain new'and useful improvements in soundreproducing devices using endless recording tapes for'reproducing soundfrom recording tapes and the like and has for its-principal object theprovision of an improved -construction of this character which will behighly efficient in use and economical in manufacture.

-An object of this invention is to provide a device of this characteradaptable for many uses, such for example, announcing the-sale ofmerchandise or the Iilzein order to stimulate the sale of themerchandise.

Another object of the invention isto provide in such a device acarriage'for the sound'tape which is removably mounted insoundreproducing position with respect to the sound drum in a mannersuch that the carriage when mounted in such position will automaticallythread the tape inoperative relation. to the sound. drum and close aswitch .to energize thev apparatus for operation.

:Another and equally important object of the invention. is to provide acarriage iorthe sound tape of av constructionsuchaspermit a considerablelength of tapelto be mounted .on the carriage,

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel combination'and arrangement of partsto be hereinafter described and claimed.

The: invention will be best: understood by reference to theaccompanyingdrawings showing the preferred form of construction, and. inwhich:

Fig. l is airagmentary sectional detail viewuof the invention takensubstantially :on line 1-! of Fig.4;

wFig. 2 is abview similarto Fig. l, butshowing the parts thereofdifierent positions;

.Fig. 3 is: afragmentary'perspective view of the invention showing thecarriage embodiedinthe invention inia partiallyremoved position;

Fig. .4 is a side elevational View taken substantially on line- 4-4of'Fig. I;

Fig. .5 is airagmentary sectional. detail view takensubstantially online. 55:of Fighlyand.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional detail view taken substantially :onlined- 8. of Fig. 4.

invention is. adaptable-tomany uses. One. of the many uses: of myinvention. isthat of repeatedly announcing anddescribing a certain food;product or other merchandise thereby to not only call the. attention ofprospective-buyers to the particular merchandise announced hut toencourage. a purchaser 'to' buy the merchandise.

To accomplish this object and other objects of the invention it isdesirable that thesound tape besupported by a carriagefor removableattachment in operative position with respect tothe sound 'drumso thatsound carriages of like construction with diiiei-ent sound tapes may beinterchanged therefor to announce a diflerent'food product or othermerchandise.

To accomplish this object it is d'esir'able'that the interchangeabilitybe made by one'other' than a mechanic. -To the accomplishment of-theseends, I have provided not only a carriage which may be easilyand quiclrl-ydetached and removed for interchangeability 'with'a carriage of likeconstruction but having a difl'er'ent soun'dtape, but I also haveprovided an arrangement whereby the soundtapeis-autQmaticaHy threadedinto position withrespect to the sound drum during the mountingoperation of" the carriage. I have also provided an arrangement wherebythe mounting of' the carriage-will close a switch tocondition the soundreproducingapparatus for operation.

To acoomplish these'and other objects oithe invention my soundtap'ecarriage is indicated at m. It comprisesa top-wall" H and a bottom wallI! of fiatelongated formation and spaced from each other by oppositeposts l'3'.

"At opposite-ends of the Walls H and are arranged spindles M androtatably mounted on each of'these spindles M is a'sleeve li dividedinto. arplurality' or integrally "formed spools 6 Reversel-y'thrcadedupon these: spools I6 is the continuous sound tape [1, a web portion H"of which i is threaded over opposite corresponding posts [3 for-reassons-Wh-ich will .be' hereinafter apparent.

The sound reproducing mechanism. includes. acabinet' 18: and.thisisound. reproducing mechanism may be of any construction including asotmdhead t9. and a control switch 20'. This sound head l9 andcontrolaswitch are mounted upon a mounting; platel l arranged. beneaththe cover .plate v22 .oibthei house t8.

Thenbottom wallgplate: l2 has a=cut-out portion 23 toaccommodatesagnideroller. 2 mountednn: HASH-K115131311} 25. 'Thiszguide roller. cooperateswith; a vertical postJSv to guide the tape: between: a. gate: 21: andthe'sound head. t9. 'gate 2'l' and'studshaft liare carried: by a:mounting plate j screws 29 and slots ifl slidablyconnected" to the plate2|, is normally held in a position with the gate in spaced relation tothe sound head I!) when the tape carriage is moved by means of a spring32 one end of which is connected as at 33 to the plate 2! and anopposite end to the mounting plate 28 as at 33'. On the plate 2| ispivoted as at 34 an arm 35 having a cam 36 which engages a latch arm 31pivoted to the plate 28 as at 38.

This latch arm 31 provides a grooved intermittent portion 39 which isadapted to be engaged by the cam 36 as shown in Fig. 2, when the arm 35is pivoted in a clockwise direction as shown in Fig. 6, to slide theplate 28 upon the mounting plate M to move the gate 21 into tape holdingposition with respect to the sound head 19, this movement beingaccomplished in a manner hereinafter more fully explained; The arm 35 isheld in the latched position shown in Fig. 6 by means of a spring 40,one end of which is connected to the plate 28 as at 33' and the oppositeend to the arm 37 as at 4 I The switch 25 includes a shaft 42 which whenmoved inwardly with respect to the switch housing closes the switchcontacts (not shown) within that housing. Whenthe plate 28 is moved todispose the gate in film retaining position with.

respect to the sound head, a wall 43 of the gate will engage the shaft42 as shown in Fig. 1, and thus close the switch to energize the soundreproducing mechanism contained within the housing l8.

On the arm 35 and extending upwardly therefrom is a pin 44 (Figs. 1 to 3inclusive and Fig. 6). This pin 44 projects into an elongated slot 45formed in the wall plate l2 whereby when the carriage I is shifted tothe right as viewed in Fig. 3, the latch arm 35 will be pivoted tolatched position with respect to the latch arm 31, thus shifting theplate 28 upon the plate 21 to dispose the film gate into film retainingposition with respect to the sound head IS. The carriage I0 is providedin its wall plate l2 adjacent the opposite ends thereof with openings 46of a diameter to receive posts 41 carried by the plate 2|. The upper endportions of these posts 4'! are tapered as at 48 to facilitate theprojection of these posts into the Openings 45. Communicating with theseopenings 46 are elongated slots 4.9 of a width less than the diameter ofthe openings 46 whereby when the carriage is in mounted position asshown in Fig. 4, with the gate disposed in film holding position withrespect to the sound head IS, the reduced portion of the posts will beconfined within the slots 49, with the wall plate l2 latched to theposts 4'! by means of latch arms 5| pivotally connected as at 52 to-thewall plate [2 and yieldably held in latched position against the posts47 by means of springs 54, these springs having corresponding endportions connected as at 55 to the arms 5| and to stud pins 55 carriedby the wall plate l2.

--The arrangement is such that upon entrance of the tapered end portions48 into the openings 4.6, the tapered ends of the posts 41 will pivotthe arms 5| outwardly with respect to the plate 12.

On the outer end portions of these arms 5| are laterally extendingfingers 57. These fingers 51 bear against the web portion ll of thesound tape and, as the latch arms 5! ride upon the posts 41, thesefingers 51 will move the web portion ll of the sound tape in a positionfor placement between the sound head and th gate 27 and between theroller 24 and the post 26. Upon placement of the carriage with the postsextending through the openings 46, the carriage is then shifted to theleft as viewed in Fig. l, to move the reduced portions 50 of the posts41 into slots 49, in which position the arms 5| are permitted to pivotinwardly to withdraw the fingers 51 from engagement with the sound tape,thi inward pivotal movement being permitted by reason of cut-outportions 58 formed in the arms, as best shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

As before stated, when the carriage is moved to the left as viewed inFig. 1, the pin 44 being engaged in the slot 45 will transmit pivotalmovement to the arm 35 (Fig. 6) to pivot the arm in a position to latchthe gate in film retaining position with respect to the sound head andto close the switch to energize the sound reproducing mechanism.

By this simple arrangement the carriage may be easily and quicklyremoved to permit replacement of a similar carriage with a tapeimpressed with different sound elements. This may be done by one otherthan a skilled mechanic.

My improved sound reproducing apparatus has many uses and may be used inany place where it is desirable that there be a repetition atpredetermined intervals of an announcement.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred form ofconstruction for carrying my invention into effect, this is capable ofvariation and modification without departing from the spirit of theinvention. I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precisedetails of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of suchvariation and modifications as come within the scope of the appendedclaims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is:

1. For a combination comprising a main mounting plate, a second mountingplate upon said main plate, means connecting the second plate to themain plate for slidable movement upon said main plate, a film gatecarried by and movable with the second plate, a sound head carried bythe main plate, a sound tape carriage, means removably connecting thecarriage to the main plate for slidable movement upon said main plate,means providing a connection between the carriage and the second platewhereby upon slidable movement of the carriage in one direction relativeto the main plate said second plate will be moved relative to the mainplate in a direction to dispose the gate in tape retaining position withrespect to the head, latch means pivotally carried by said carriageadjacent said removable connecting means and actuated thereby to latchsaid carriage upon said main plate, said latching means having verticaltape engaging fingers adapted to engage a web portion of sound tapecarried by said carriage to disposed said tape from between said gateand said sound head when said carriage is in unlatched position, saidfingers adapted to be pivoted out of engagement with said tape toposition the same between said gate and said sound head by slidablemovement of the carriage relative to said main plate and in latchedposition with respect thereto.

2. For a combination comprising a main mounting plate, a second mountingplate upon said main plate, means connecting the second plate to themain plate for slidable movement upon said main plate, a film gatecarried by and movable with the second plate, a sound head carried bythe main zlatz, a sounsl tape carriage,

slot and pin means movably connecting the carriage to the main plate forslidable movement upon said main plate, means providing a connectionbetween the carriage and the second plate whereby upon slidable movementof the carriage in one direction relative to the main plate said secondplate will be moved relative to the main plate in a direction to disposethe gate in tape retaining position with respect to the head, latchmeans pivotally carried by said carriage adjacent said removableconnecting means and actuated thereby to latch said carriage upon saidmain plate, said latching means having vertical tape engaging fingersadapted to engage a web portion of sound tape carried by said carriageto dispose said tape from between said gate and said sound head whensaid carriage is in unlatched position, said fingers adapted to bepivoted out of engagement with said tape to position the same betweensaid gate and said sound head by slidable movement of the carriagerelative to said main plate and in latched position with respectthereto.

3. For a combination comprising a main mounting plate, a second mountingplate upon said main plate, means connecting the second plate to themain plate for slidable movement upon said main plate, a film gatecarried by and movable with the second plate, a sound head carried bythe main plate, a sound tape carriage, means removably connecting thecarriage to the main plate for slidable movement upon said main plate,means providing a connection between the carriage and the second platewhereby upon slidable movement of the carriage in one direction relativeto the main plate said second plate will be moved relative to the mainplate in a direction to dispose the gate in tape retaining position withrespect to the head, latch means pivotally carried by said carriageadjacent said removable connecting means and actuated thereby to latchsaid carriage upon said main plate, said latching means having verticaltape engaging fingers adapted to engage a web portion of sound tapecarried by said carriage to dispose said tape from between said gate andsaid sound head when said carriage is in unlatched position, saidfingers adapted to be pivoted out of engagement with said tape toposition the same between said gate and said sound head by slidablemovement of the carriage relative to said main plate and in latchedposition with respect thereto.

4. For a combination comprising a main mounting plate, a second mountingplate upon said main plate, means connecting the second plate to themain plate for slidable movement upon said main plate, a film gatecarried by and movable with the second plate, a sound head carried bythe main plate, a sound tape carriage, slot and pin means removablyconnecting the carriage to the main plate for slidable movement uponsaid main plate, means providing a connection between the carriage andthe second plate whereby upon slidable movement of the carriage in onedirection relative to the main plate said second plate will be movedrelative to the main plate in a direction to dispose the gate in taperetaining position with respect to the head, latch means pivotallycarried by said carriage adjacent said removable connecting means andactuated thereby to latch said carriage upon said main plate, saidlatching means having vertical tape engaging fingers adapted to engage aweb portion of sound tape carried by said carriage to dispose said tapefrom between said gate and said sound head when said carriage is inunlatched position, said fingers adapted to be pivoted out of engagementwith said tape to position the same between said gate and said soundhead by slidable movement of the carriage relative to said main plateand in latched position with respect thereto.

GRAHAM P. SMITH.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,462,687 Stava Feb. 22, 1949 2,468,198 Heller Apr. 26, 19492,474,972 Coutant et a1 July 5, 1949 2,490,771 Begun Dec. 13, 19492,519,597 Owens Aug, 22, 1950 2,560,234 Masterson July 10, 1951

